Computers Today, December 1-15, 1998 Managing IT (Keynote)

December 1-15, 1998 MANAGING IT

KEYNOTE
Zeroing in the Latency Factor

By Jnan R. Dash

A new term is making its rounds in the US business, called the "zero-latency enterprise". Latency represents the time it takes for a system to respond to an input. Therefore, zero-latency means instant response. A 'zero-latency enterprise' strategy is one that exploits the immediate exchange of information across geographical, technical and organisational boundaries for business benefit.

To explain this further, let us start with a view that the modern enterprise is very much like a complex system. Divisions, departments and even groups in external business partners are treated as co-operating subsystems regardless of where they are located.

As soon as new information is captured by any application system in any workgroup, it is made available to all other interested parties, which may be other application systems or a person as the user in front of a browser or a desktop client/server application.

The need for such exchanges was always there, but with the rapid use of the Internet, enterprises see the real possibility of achieving this goal in real-time as opposed to using batch-systems. Many companies have established "intranets" for providing easy access to information for their internal users. Connecting such "intranets" together via a secure "extranet" paves way for inter-enterprise connectivity.

Achieving the Zero-latency

Let us start with a zero-latency airline business. Think of all the users who need update-access to the operational data store--flight info display system, onboard telemetry, the Federal Aviation Agency (in the US), seat reservation and airline operations, and current flight status info.

Zero-latency in financial services business must have a worldwide information messaging infrastructure to satisfy applications like back-office, foreign exchange, trading and trading risk system, and online risk analysis.

Federal express, a US shipping major, wants to be connected to its carriers, suppliers, customers, and branch offices online. If you want to track the location of your item, you can access it through a browser and check the status.

The Infrastructure Issue

Application integration is a hot area in software business these days. Enterprises cannot even dream of zero-latency until their application systems can be harmoniously unified, so that information can be exchanged freely. Several start-up companies are coming up to address the "application integration" space (eg. CrossWorld, STC, Constellar, Vitria, Neon, TSI Soft, Level8, etc.). Add to this list mammoths like IBM and Oracle.

The real solution should be in providing messaging middleware as part of the systems infrastructure. The messaging infrastructure stack must start with queuing (for asynchronous storage and safe maintenance of messages) followed by routing and distribution. Rules engine must be provided so that routing can be based on events and rules (eg. send the purchase order to the chief financial officer if it is over $20,000).

Formatting services need to be there so that E-mail, EDI, and specialised formats like Swift(financial industry data format) and HL7 (health-care industry data format) can be accommodated inside the database. On top of that, workflow engines must be provided so that events can be managed in real-time with flow of information to the appropriate parties. This is fundamental to achieving the zero-latency dream of the next millennium.

The author is vice president, Advanced Technology and Strategy , Oracle Corp., California, USA.

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